- Mats Zuccarello scored 3:51 into the first period in his return from a three-game absence
- The Wild beat Dallas 4-2 to take a 3-2 series lead, one win away from their first series victory since 2015
- Read below for quotes from Zuccy and Brock Faber, plus video of the dagger goal from Michael McCarron
Mats Zuccarello is back, and the Wild are one win away from their first playoff series victory in over a decade.
The 38-year-old winger missed the previous three games with an upper-body injury after Tyler Myers caught him with an elbow in Game 1. He returned Tuesday night in Dallas and didn’t waste any time. Just 3:51 into the first period, Kirill Kaprizov fed him a pass across the crease and Zuccarello buried the back-door tap-in for Minnesota’s opening goal.
The Wild rolled from there, beating the Stars 4-2 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“He’s a key piece to this puzzle,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said after the game. “He brings skill. He brings energy. He obviously brings another element on the power play. Having him back is so awesome as a player, as a leader.”
Matt Boldy added a power-play goal off the iron to make it 2-1. Michael McCarron snuck behind Stars defensemen Tyler Myers and Esa Lindell at 7:47 of the third for the dagger.
Take a look:
Kirill Kaprizov capped things off with an empty-netter at 18:00, finishing his night with a goal and two assists. Zuccarello gave a pretty honest answer about why he had to sit out the last few games.
“I felt it kind of the two days there, but you keep telling yourself that you’re fine because you don’t want to realize that you have a problem,” Zuccarello said. “But you don’t want to hinder the team. If you’re not 100 percent you shouldn’t play, especially the way I felt.”
Minnesota hasn’t won a playoff series since beating the Blues in the first round of 2015. They’ll get their first chance to end that drought Thursday at Grand Casino Arena, where Faber is already counting the minutes.
“I can’t wait to hear that crowd,” Faber said. “I’d play tomorrow if we could.”
The Stars have a real problem at five-on-five. They haven’t scored an even-strength goal in two straight games, a stretch of more than 217 minutes. After Boldy’s overtime winner in Game 4 evened things up, Dallas hoped to swing momentum back. Now they’re staring at elimination.
Game 6 puck drops at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT. Full Game 5 highlights below.
